Adjustable feed finger for feeding ticket strips



Sept. 27, 1949. H. s. OWEN 2,483,227

ADJUSTABLE FEED FINGER FOR FEEDING TICKET STRIPS Filed Feb. 15, 1947 v '2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ABC BLOWER "0.023

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H. s. IOVYVEN 2,483,227

ADJUSTABLE FEED FINGER FOR FEEDING TICKET STRIPS Filed Feb. 15, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 132111? for flaidorz 6. Gav/era Patented Sept. 27 1949 ADJUSTABLE. FEED FINGER FOR FEEDING TICKET STRIPS Haddon S. Owen, Framingham, Mass,

assignor to Dennison Manufacturing Company, Framingham, Mass, acorporation of Massachusetts Application February 15, 1947, Serial No. 728,894

2 Claims.

This invention relates to printing machines proved feeding mechanism for feeding successive ticket sections of a ticket strip to printing position. The present improvement is particularly adapted to feed ticket strips of the character disclosed and claimed in United States Letters Patent'2,121,865 of Flood,, issued June 28, 1938, and comprising ticket sections separated by short feed slots, the strip being supplied to a user of the printing machines in a compact bundle wherein the strip is folded back and forth on itself along lines between adjoining ticket sections, the end of the strip being fed into the printing machine so that the adjoining part of the strip possesses a zig-zag form.

In the printing of ticket strips of the, character described it has been the practice to run the ticket strip through the printin machine whereby a single line of indicia is printed on each ticket section. If more than a single line, of printed indicia was desired, the practice was, to

runthe ticket stripthrough the printing machine a second-time and'it therefore became necessary to'provide some means, by which the successive ticketsections of the strip wouldbe fed to a new printing position so that the second imprint on eachticket section would not be superposed upon,

butrather wouldbe displaced from, the first imprint.

Heretofore attempts to solve this problem have been impracticable, inefficient and limited in operation; They have resulted in variable feeding' mechanisms which required the adjustment to be made by service men from the manufacturer or by highly skilled and trained operators, and even then the adjustment was made by trial and error method without accuracy and with attenda,

antv loss of time, additional expense, and'waste of material. The mechanisms were inaccessible for rapid adjustment and required dismantling of parts of the machine each time it was desired to print anadditional line. of indicia, thereby resulting in stoppage of output, waste of time and additional expense. Even when laboriously efiected by askilled operator, the adjustment made was subject to inaccuracies which led to irregularities in spacing of the printed lines of indicia, with resultin waste of material where the lines overlapped andv an unsatisfactory printing job of displeasing appearance when the lines were irregularly spaced.

The principal" objects of the present invention are to provide an improved feeding mechanism of the character descri'bed'which solves the above problem in a practicable and efficient manner, which provides selective and insures accurate positionin of the. successive ticket sections of a ticket strip toa new predetermined printing position whereby a second" line of imprint will be displaced from the firstline of imprint a selected predetermined amount, which is extremely simple to operate, eliminating any requirement for skilled operators or service men, and which is readily and. conveniently accessible without loss of time or derangement of' other parts of the printing machine; Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved feeding mechani'sm 0i thecharacter described which is quickly and easily adaptable to the solution of the above problem where a plurality of lines of printed indicia are required but the printing space available between the transverse edges of the ticket sections may be greater or less and therefore require different spacing of the lines of printed indicia. Further objects of the invention are to provide an improved feeding mechanism of the character described which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture and is of strong and durable construction;

In one aspect the present invention involves, in a machine for printingv between cooperative printing members a strip of tickets formed with spacedalignedfeed openings, afeeder comprising areciprocating feed finger support movable toward and away from the printing members, a feed finger mounted on the support for engaging successive feedopenings in the strip. for feeding successive tickets of said strip to theprinting members for a first imprint, the feed finger being selectively adjustable relative to the support to predetermined positions along th path of movement, of. the support, and means for maintaining the finger at a selected one of saidpredetermined positions. whereby on a second feeding of the, strip. of tickets the second imprint on each ticket may be displaced from the first imprint a, distance qual to. the selected adjustment. The reciprocating feed-finger. support may be elongatein-the direction of the path of movement, the feed finger being selectively adjustable to predetermined positions lengthwise of the sup port. and cooperative interfittin parts carried by the support and feed finger maintain the finger at a selected. one of said. predetermined positions.

In a preferred aspect of the invention the face of the support has a groove extending lengthwise of the support, and the feed finger is mounted in the rove, one end of the finger being engageable with successive feed openings in the strip for feeding the successive tickets of said strip to the printing members for a. first imprint, the feed finger being slidable in the groove and selectively adjustable to predetermined positions lengthwise of the support, and the cooperative interfitting parts being carried by one end of the support and the opposite end of the finger.

In a more specific aspect, adjustable positioning means for selectively adjusting the finger to predetermined positions lengthwise of the support comprise a latch slidable within the groove and having a lip at one end and pivotally joined at the opposite end to the opposite end of the finger, positioning notches formed in one face and spaced lengthwise of the groove each adapted to receive the lip of the latch, and a spring for normally urging the lip into a selected one of said notches. A grooved extension may be provided at one end of the support for slidably receiving the latch, the positioning notches being formed in one face and spaced lengthwise of the groove of the extension, and the groove extension may be removably mounted at one end of the support. Preferably the positioning notches are formed in one side face and spaced lengthwise of the groove, each being adapted to receive the lip of the latch, and the spring is mounted on the opposite side face of the groove for normally urging the lip into a selected one of said notches.

For the purpose of illustration a typical embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. l is a perspective view of the top of the printin machine;

Fig. 2 is an isometric view of a typical embodiment of the feeder;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the printing machine;

Fig. 4 is a section along the line 4-4 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a reduced plan view of a portion of a ticket strip printed by a machine of the type disclosed herein.

In general a printing machine of the type provided in the present invention includes a base, suitable driving mechanism and a linkage of the same type as described in the above-identified Flood patent wherein a link I of the linkage causes the platen frame or head 2 to swing in response to actuation by a barrel cam while a link 3 actuates a feed finger support 4.

A ticket strip S (Fig. 5) may be employed with a machine of this character and may comprise a plurality of ticket sections T separated by feed slots 5 with spaced elongate slits 6 aligned with the slots. Such a strip may be folded back and forth upon itself to afford a, compact rectangular package from which the end of the strip may extend in zigzag form to the machine.

The head 2 includes a main frame 1, a front flange 8 extending at right angles to the main frame and carrying on its bottom surface a rubber platen block 9, and a lower guide portion I!) having a pivotal connection H with the fixed frame members 12 of the printing machine (Fig. 4), the guide portion affording a channel 45 in which the feed finger support G is slidably guided for reciprocating motion a fixed distance toward and away from the platen block 9.

A flat substantially rectangular sheet metal ticket guide 14 is mounted on the top surface of the lower guide portion l8 and support arm [5 (Fig. 4) and extends lengthwise of the head from adjacent the rear edge of the platen block rearwardly to adjacent the rear end of the main frame 7 and extends transversely of the head from the left-hand edge of the channel 45 to beyond the outer end of the support arm 15. A narrow elongate ticket guide W is similarly mounted on the top surface of the lower guide portion ID and extends lengthwise of the head to the same distance as guide Hi and transversely of the head from the right-hand edge of the channel to adjacent the inner face of the main frame I. A semi-circular sheet metal ticket guide It is secured to the rear edges of the ticket guides I4 and M the three ticket guides together being arranged to engage the lower surface of a ticket strip and to direct the same first downwardly and then to the platen block 9.

Intermediate the ends of the frame I a bar I? is secured at one end above the ticket guide M by suitable meansas a lock nut 13 and extends parallel to, above and transversely of the ticket guides it and M to the opposite side edge of ticket guide 84. A collar is is slidably mounted on the opposite end of the bar H and is adjustable lengthwise of the bar by suitable means here shown as a thumb screw 26. A member I3 substantially Z-shaped in cross section is slidably mounted on the bar i7 and is integral with the inner face and lower surface of the collar (Fig. 4) The lower leg 2| of the Z-shaped member I3 is secured at its end by suitable means as rivets to an elongate guide plate 22, the inner edge 23 of the guide plate being formed with a step 24 and a space being provided inwardly of the leg 2| between the upper surface of the guide plate 22 and the lower surface of the member I3 for the reception of ticket strings or other means for attaching the tickets to merchandise after they have been printed. The bottom surface of the guide plate 22 rests upon the ticket guide M and the elongate inner edge of the guide plate serves as a guide for the marginal edge of the ticket strip S (Fig. 4) A vertical elongate holddown plate 25 is secured to the upper leg of Z- shaped member 13 and extends forward to a point adjacent the front edge of the ticket guide It, the lower elongate edge of the hold-down plate making contact with the upper surface of the ticket strip S adjacent its margin. From the foregoing it is apparent that the margin of the ticket strip S is held in a flat position and guided toward the platen block for a substantial length of the ticket guide hi and that the guide plate 22 and hold-down plate 25 are adjustable transversely of ticket guide M to accommodate ticket strips of different widths.

The opposite margin of the ticket strip S is guided by an elongate retaining member 21 resting on the ticket guide M the lower portion of the inner face of the retaining member being recessed and its rear end being upturned for guiding and retaining the margin of the ticket retaining member 21 by suitable means, as screws '29 (Fig. 3).

Suitable means for adjustin the collar lengthwise of the bar I! are provided and are here shown as a screw 30.

Forward of the bar I.'lthe bottom surface of the'collar 28 is formed with an upwardly extending recess SI to receive a vertical and forwardly directed elongate hold-down plate 32: identical to thehold-down plate 25, plate 32' being pivotally mounted in the recess by a pivot33. A helical spring 34: is received in the-recess. forward of. the pivot. point of plate 32v andabuts at one end the top edgeof the plate 32' and at the opposite end the roof of-the recess, thereby to. normally urge the. elongate lower edge of plate 32 downwardly against the ticket strip S adjacent theslot. as showninFig. 4.

outwardly of recess 31. the collar 28. is formed witha second upwardly extending recess 35. An elongate feed stop finger 31 is pivotally mounted inrecess 3.6 by an extension of pivot. 33 and extends forwardly and downwardly byforce of gravity, as. shown in Fig. 1. At its forward end the feed stop. finger is provided with a downwardly extending lip 3d; the purpose of which will be hereinafter explained, and the opposite end is provided with a finger latch 39,. downward pressure onwhich causes. the feed stop finger to pivot about: the pivot; 33 to elevate the 1ip.33,

Referring to Figs. 2. ande the feed finger support d'comprises. a narrow elongate body at having elongate edgesformedwith shoulders ll and tladapted tobe slidably received under complementary shoulders t3: and 44 formed on the side walls. of'channel 45. An arm id. is mounted by suitable means as a screw-A8 to one elongate edge of the body in a recess ill provided in shoulder M, andextends downwardly fromthe body its lowerv end having a projecting lug 49: pivotally received inthe. end .of the link 3.

Intermediatev its elongate edges the top surface of body 48 is formed with a dovetailed groove Ell adapted to slidably receive a feed finger block 5|, the topsurface of the block being flushwith the top surfaceof the body 49. A narrow elongatefeed finger 52 ispivotally mountedat one endto the forward end of the block andextends forwardly along groove 56 into a second narrow groove 53.formed in. the top surface of the body M1 forwardaofgroove 55' and connected at one end therewith. The forwardend of feed finger 52 is formed with an upwardly inclined prong 55 adapted to fit into aslot f ticket section T, and a. leaf spring 56. normally urges the prong 5 5 upwardly to. the. ticket. slot engaging position shown in Fig. 2, it being understood that. when the" feed finger is compressed downwardly the prong is received within the groove 53, the end of theprong being flush with the top surfaceof the body.

Anelongate feed finger support extension 60 is mounted by suitable means, here shown asscrews 6.1 .and62, to the rear end .of the feed finger sup.- port. 4'. Intermediate its elongate edges the top surface of. the extension is formed throughout its length with an elongate groove 63 alignedwith groove 50- and adapted to slidably receive alatch ti-lpivotally secured by suitable means, asa pivot 66, to. a narrow tall 65 formed at the opposite end of the feed finger block 51. The-side wall 6 1 of the groove 63 is formed with positioning notches 68, 69 and 'idspaced at predeterminedpositions lengthwise of the groove and conveniently marked T, C and B. Each notch is adapted torecei-ve a lip ll provided-on the. opposite end of latch 64 and aleaf spring 12 is secured at one end to. the opposite. sidewall'l'3iof the-groove and adjacentitsopposite end abuts the) lip .13; thereby to. normally urge the lip .1 l into, one ofthe, notches and to yieldablyhold it in said notch, as shown Fig. -2.- The lip- H is further formed" with an opening t5 to.v receive the end. of a stylus 1. 6;, as shown in Fig. 1.

A narrow elongate shield underlies ticket guide It and extends forwardly. between the opposite edges. of. and. in. the same. plane with the uppersurface: of" ticket guides. i l: and Mi toa position overlying the feedfinger-support 4 and extension '61 the forward end of the shield, as shownin Fig- 3., terminating over the feed finger d2; Witha ticketzstrips in position, as. shown in Fig-r 4 and asthefeed; finger support. is reciprocated in channeled rearwardly away from-platen block 9the spring urged prong 55will. slide rearward'ly. andbe forced. downwardly out-of a. slot 5 in ticket strip S by the camaction of the rear edge of the slot acting on-the upwardly inclined surface of theprongland thence will slide rear.- ward-ly beneath the bottom surface, of the ticket strip. S and will. come into engagement with the forward end; of. the shield 80. On further rear.- Ward movement; .of he feed; fin er s pport the prong- 5.5, will be ,yieldably. suppressed beneaththe lower surface of the shield 8i} and downwardly into thegroove 53;, On theforward stroke of the feed finger. support the prone 55. when advanced beyond the forward end of he Sh e d; 9 will spring inwardly toag-ain engage the ticket strip S, the prong, moving into thefeed slot. 5 ofthesucceeding adiQiningticket section inthe strip and advancing the leadingadjoining ticketsection to printing position; beneath. the; platen. block 9. The shield is slidably suppertedbeneath the ticket guide it by-suitabl'e means, as-=a clamp 8| secured to the bottom surface of theticket guide it and is. adjustablelengthwise of the head by a thumb screw 82; extending th-roughthe clamp 8|. From the foregoing; it, is apparent that the effective path of the prong 55, may be varied wherein it engages the ticket: strip thus permitting the feedingof ticket strips havingticket sections of a different inwhich slots 5 are more widely or more narrowly spaced.

The-shield 80 is further formed with a window 83' overlying;- the. extension 6 0,, the window being-of sufficient width and length to provide convenient accessfor thestylus to the opening 15 of the latch and the positioning notches and to the extent ofthe maximum adjustable positions of the shield 80, lengthwise of the head.

Referringto- Fig. 2, the body 40 of feed finger support 4.is.provided at-one edge adjacent its forward end with a recessflfihaving; a forwardly inclined forward wallglifi-and. arear wall 8? normal tothe plane of the top surface-of the body. After the last ticket. section T. has been advanced under theplatemblock 9, the lip.38 of feed stop finger 31 drops by force of gravity to rest on the top. surface of the feedfinger support and on the next forward stroke of the support the lip isdirecteddown the inclined wall 8.6,- into the recess. 85'. Further forward motion of the support causes the lip to engage the rear wall BIthereby to resist further forward movement of the. support. 'I'hex i sistance causes the release of a clutch to thereby disconnect the mainshaft' from thedri-v-ing motor and to stop further actuationof the linkage as, disclosed in United-States Letters Patent to Flood No. 1,98{l, 75.6 issued-November 13., 1934, and No. 2,007,526 issued July 9;, 1935.

Rearwardlv spacedfr m the recessthe op surface of the body-40: of feedfingersupportd leis provided with a groove. extending from. the

elongate edge of the body transversely of the support and communicating with the groove 50. A pin 89 (Fig. 3) extends through an opening in main frame 7 to a point adjacent the elongate edge of the feed finger support opposite the groove 88 and is normally held out of engagement with the support by suitable means as the force of a spring 90 exerted against the head 9| of the pin and the side of the frame I. When it is desired to disengage the prong 55 of the feed finger 52 from a slot of a ticket section the pin 89 is pushed inwardly through the groove 88 and into groove 59 to force the feed finger downwardly into groove 50 and out of engagement with'the ticket slot 5. On release of the pin, it is returned to its original position out of engagement with the support by the spring 90, the feed finger is released and the prong 55 is permitted to again engage a ticket slot5.

The platen block 9 is disposed in the same general manner as taught in the above identified United States Letters Patent of Flood with reference to the printing wheel assembly W over which a printing ribbon B may extend.

To better understand the present invention the operation of the printing machine is now described with reference to the printing of the ticket sections T of the strip of tickets shown in Fig. 2 wherein it is desired to print three spaced lines 9!, 92 and 93 of indicia upon each ticket section. lJhe lip ll of the latch 64 is disposed in the notch 88 of the feed finger support extension and the feed finger 52 is thereby positioned lengthwise of the support as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. The ticket strip S is then fed over the ticket guides i6, Ml and N and under the hold-down plates and 32 making certain that the marginal edges of the strip are in contact with the elongate inner edge of guide plate 22 and the recessed portion of retaining member 2? as shown in Fig. 4. The shield 88 is then adjusted as above described so that at the beginning of each forward stroke of the feed finger support the prong 55 of feed finger 52 will be suppressed under the lower surface of the shield 89 and will only be permitted to emerge from the forward end of the shield to engage the slot 5 of the succeeding adjoining ticket sections of the ticket strip S.

The driving mechanism is now started which causes the link 3 to move the feed finger support forward toward the platen block 9. As the prong 55 of the feed finger 52 emerges from under the front end of the shield 85 it engages the slot 5 of a ticket section. Further forward movement of the support causes the feed finger to feed a ticket section between the platen block 9 and the printing wheel assembly W and printing ribbon R. At the end of the forward stroke of the feed finger support the head 2 is moved downwardly by linkage l causing the platen block 9 to press the ticket section against the ribbon R. and thereby to imprint the first line 5! of indicia upon the ticket section. The

feed support now starts its rearward motion, the prong 55 is withdrawn from the slot 5, is wiped beneath the surface of the succeeding adjoining ticket section and then suppressed beneath the shield 88. As the feed finger support is again moved forward the cycle is repeated and the ticket slot 5 of the succeeding adjoining ticket is engaged by the prong 55 and the leading adjoining ticket is fed to printing position where a corresponding line 9! of indicia is printed thereon, After the last ticket section is fed and Cal printed the lip 38 of the feed stop finger drops into recess 85 and engages the wall 81 thereby stopping further actuation of the links I and 3 as above described.

The operator of the machine now inserts the point of a stylus 16 through the open window 83 in the shield and into the opening 15 of the lip H at the end of latch 64, swings the lip out of the positioning notch 68 by pressing the latch against the side wall 13 of the groove and against the pressure of spring '12, slides the latch forward to a position juxtaposed to the position notch 69 marked C and removes the point of the stylus permitting the spring 12 to urge the lip into and to maintain the lip in the positioning notch 59.

By the above adjustment the feed finger 52 and prong 55 have been moved forward relative to the feed finger support the distance of the space between notches B8 and 69 and correspondingly an equal distance nearer to the printing assembly and platen block. Now, when the ticket strip is a second time positioned on the head as above described and the links are again actuated it is readily apparent that since the length of the reciprocation of the feed finger support remains constant and the printing assembly remains fixed the forward edge of adjoining ticket sections will be fed successively further forward under the platen block :by a distance equal to the amount of the adjustment and therefore the second line of printed indicia 92 will be displaced rearwardly of each ticket section from the first line of imprint an equal distance, as shown in Fig. 2. After the successive ticket sections of the ticket strip have been thus printed with a second line of indicia 92 the links I and 3 are again stopped as above described.

The operator of the machine again employs the stylus as above described to position the lip of the latch into the positioning notch it! marked B thereby causing the feed finger 52 and prong 55 to move forward lengthwise of the feed finger support the distance of the space between notches 69 and it and correspondingly an equal distance nearer to the printing assembly. For the aforesaid reasons it is readily apparent that when the ticket strip is for the third time positioned on the head and the links are again actuated the forward edge of adjoining ticket sections will be successively fed even further forward under the platen block and by a distance equal to the amount of the last adjustment and therefore the third line of printed indicia 93 will be disposed rearwardly from the second line of imprint 92 an equal distance as shown in Fig. 2.

It is further to be understood that if narrower or wider spaces are desired between lines of printed indicia a similar feed support extension 60 having appropriately spaced positioning notches may be quickly and easily substituted for the extension then mounted at the rear of the feed finger support and the feeding mechanism will operate with equal efficiency, accuracy and selectivity to solve the problem of providing feeding means by which the successive ticket sections of the ticket strip may be fed to a new printing position so that successive imprints on each ticket section will not be superposed upon but rather will be displaced from preceding imprints, and will be equally as simple and convenient to manage by even an unskilled operator.

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purpose of illustration only and that this invention includes all modifications and 9 equivalents which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a machine for advancing to predetermined positions sections of a strip of tickets formed with spaced aligned feed openings, a ticket strip guide constituting a work table and formed with an elongate guideway disposed beneath the aligned openings of the strip of tickets, a feeder comprising a feed-finger support mounted in the guideway for reciprocating movement lengthwise of the guideway below the level of the ticket strip on the work table, the support having a longitudinally extending groove in its upper surface, a feed finger slidably mounted within the groove :and having an upwardly projecting prong engageable with said feed openings, the support and finger having slidably adjustable, cooperative interfitting parts in said groove for adjusting the finger to predetermined positions lengthwise of the support, whereby adjustment of the finger may be readily made from above said work table while maintaining the space above the work table free from the feeder and adjustable parts therefor.

2. In a machine for advancing to predetermined positions sections of a strip of tickets formed with spaced aligned feed openings, a ticket strip guid constituting a work table and formed with an elongate guideway disposed beneath the aligned openings of the strip of tickets,

a feeder comprising a feed-finger support mounted in the guideway for reciprocating movement lengthwise of the guideway below the level of the 10 ticket strip on the work table, the support having a longitudinally extending groove in its upper surface, a feed finger slidably mounted within the groove and havin an upwardly projecting .prong engageable with said feed openings, and a plurality of notches formed in one face of the groove and spaced at predetermined positions lengthwise thereof and a latch pivotally mounted at the end of the finger within the groove and slidable lengthwise thereof into engagement with :a selected one of said notches for adjusting the finger to predetermined positions lengthwise of the support, whereby adjustment of the finger may be readily made from above said work table while maintaining the space above the work table free from the feeder and adjustable parts therefor.

HADDON S. OWEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PA'I'ENTS 

